From the mighty Rolls Royce Spitfire Engine to the 1938 Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine, and everything in between, I love how things work. 

Much of my focus in 3D Design class has been building scale replicas of various engine formats using mat board and other materials.  In engineering class, one of our first projects was to build a 2 person boat using 2 sheets of corrugated plastic, 2 sheets of corrugated cardboard, and 2 rolls of duct tape. The goal was to make it across our school’s pool - which we did! 

Our family business, Fairhope Graphics, has instilled in me a greater appreciation for all the living things we share the earth with.  Creating scientific graphic products has introduced me to the Adobe suite of graphic design software, printing production, trade shows for science teachers, retail stores and science & engineering festivals, countless natural history museums, and general business practices.

This past summer I worked at ASI Technologies / Gear Innovations. They manufacture small transmissions that are used in battery powered applications – mainly scooters, floor scrubbing equipment and robots for the world's largest distribution company warehouses. All of the gear cutting and most of the other machining of housings and gear blanks is done there at the company. Spending time among several of the departments was a great experience. One of the projects I worked on was helping design and assemble a gear train sample for the Gear Expo trade show in Columbus, Ohio. 

Our school encourages playing different sports during the school year. This allowed me to enjoy being out on the Schuylkill River with crew as both a rower and a coxswain, as well as run cross-country and pole vaulting.  My ice hockey experience has been great – last year we won our school's division championship.  I also make time for going to our local rock climbing gym where I am belay certified.

Whenever there is a break in school, I head for the outdoors. Everything from backpacking in the Catskill Mountains to kayaking in Maine to doing farm work. In the Pocono Mountains, we recently help clear trees in certain areas as part of a state program to create new habitats for the Golden Winged Warbler whose numbers have been in decline.   Farm work has given me exposure to running many different types of equipment.

With a grandfather and uncle being pilots, aviation has always been close by. My uncle flies airplanes for the army and helicopters for Medivac.  Aviation has often been a source of inspiration for drawings in my notebook.